So Thoughts What Are You Thinking????

So it is estimated that we have between 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day (with statistics from the National Science Foundation), depending upon your level of creativity, personal and professional problem solving skills, your career and whether you tend to be a thinker. That averages out to approximately a thought every 2.5 seconds if you take the average person from this statistic who thinks 36,000 thoughts per day.

The question is, what do our thoughts look like right now? Boris Johnson's hair? A supermodel? The Apprentice boardroom? Your gloomy shadow? We have to identify where we are at mentally to order to correctly assess ourselves and make a change if necessary. Also, how are our thoughts affecting us as a whole person? Is there a pattern of negative thought which leads to more negative consequences in your life? Like a building a elaborate mansion in the middle of a busy motorway road?

There are serious mental conditions that can lead to racing thoughts, anxiety, consistent pessimism and depressive thoughts, which are sometimes difficult to control. From research on this issue, people have said helpful ways to combat this is often the 'Stop Technique' which is saying to yourself, "STOP", out loud until the persistent thoughts stops completely. Another technique that is used is to have reaffirming and positive quotes around you to reaffirm good thinking patterns.

I have a personal opinion, that we all need type of this intervention in all of our thinking patterns to some extent regardless of the severity of the impact of our thoughts on our daily lives. The reason I believe this strongly is I have recognised an overall positive change in my life since I have been very cautious regarding which thoughts I let enter into myself, to move the furniture around and set up home. So we should all be halting negative thoughts and reaffirming good thoughts to some extent.

I challenge many thoughts which come into my head in a very practical and logical way like, "Ok negative thought interesting you think that, why? What evidence do you have to prove that? What contrary evidence is there?" I don't let my negative thoughts get away with much, they have to be on trial, whilst the positive ones can run free in my head and they can have as much fun as they want. If the negative thought have fought hard to be there, and has given good evidence to win the case then I only let it stick around to propel me forward to become better next time, and only draw upon its nastiness only when necessary and when I have a plan of action to not let this justified negative thought win again.

It is about being honest with yourself but humans do have a tendency to dwell in the pit of despair of negative thoughts instead of celebrating achievements along the way. It is estimated that 70-80% of our thoughts on a daily basis are negative. So that is completely unfair to the good and uplifting thoughts that want to carry us through the day to make us think about a better future for ourselves.

Recently, I have had a few people comment on my confidence and how I can help them improve there's, so that got me thinking about the main things that I can attribute a healthy confidence. One thing that stood out most upon reflection is the way I speak to myself. I give myself permission to say very nice things to myself often. I know I am British and I am not supposed to say this and instead I should put myself down constantly, but really I know doing this definitely does not improve confidence. So I celebrate who I am on a daily basis and strengthen my positive thoughts by reading inspirational stories, books and quotes about the human experience. I apply them in my life where I can and I live with a smile and a very loud laugh whenever I can manage it.

Some days are hard regardless. That I do understand, but still don't let negative thoughts win your whole mind like it is a shrewd lawyer that tricked you into signing a life sentence. It is lying, tear up that contract and write yourself into who you want to be. Know that crying only happens for a short while so you can appreciate joy so much more. There is always something positive that comes out of the most negative situations. So focus on that, starting with being positive at least 50% of the time, maybe going unto to 70-80%. Now that would be a nice, peaceful mansion to live in.

“Always focus on the front windshield and not the review mirror.” 
― Colin Powell

“Our way of thinking creates good or bad outcomes.” 
― Stephen Richards

“Reality is a projection of your thoughts or the things you habitually think about.” 
― Stephen Richards

“Sometimes we focus so much on what we don't have that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have!” 
― Jeff Dixon

Here are some of my genuine thoughts I tell myself on some days:

References
http://www.nsf.gov
http://verysmartgirls.com/mental-clarity-and-calmness/choose-your-thoughts-well/
http://www.anxietyguru.net/how-to-stop-racing-thoughts/
http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2007/03/managing-your-50000-daily-thoughts.html
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/focus

Self-development: How Much Do You Want It?

Self development is the key the success, fulfilment and worth. 

As a person you are either developing yourself in a direction that is moving you forward or you are being stagnant and moving backwards, losing the muscle memory to the skill or talent to which you were potentially gifted. 

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will."

Vince Lombardi 

"Action is the foundational key to all success."

Pablo Picasso 

The question so often is how badly do you want it and what are you willing to sacrifice in order for you to get what you desire? Focus is extremely important as it is where your thinking and physical energy is being directed at any moment. To achieve goals and ambitions you will need a lot of it focused in that direction. In my own life I recently had to acknowledge that focus takes a lot of discipline and sacrifice as it is not giving into temporary pleasures that do not benefit you or reach you closer to your goal in the long run. This very hard and sometimes it hurts. Whether it be in weight-loss, exercise, education or self-development in any other form. Once you have an actual choice, it's hard to make the right one over the more self-indulgent one. The following video is helpful in illustrating this point as well as being very motivational.

I personally find that one way to keep your self on track regarding focus is to submerse yourself into the activity by visualising the expected outcome every morning, reading inspirational books and quotes regarding the subject matter and allowing your brain to be so filled of that thing that it is unconsciously thinking about the subject matter even when your brain in a relaxed state, coming up with further solutions or motivations on it's own. That helps you to move closer to your desired goal and the expected outcome of success.

This works well for me but of course it is good to get healthy breaks from any action that is your complete focus. You do not want stress to creep in and then for you to become unproductive. I find the best way to overcome this is to build in structured breaks around whatever you are doing. Something that completely takes you away from the task at hand, so away from your computer, the running machine, your books etc. Let it be something that you look forward to that helps you to relax and something that you can consider a treat. A word of warning though, is if you have just come from exercising the best "treat" might not be a tub of ice-cream, so still consider your overall life goals when choosing your treats. For me I much look forward to my green tea breaks which takes me away from my desk and allows me a "treat" which will enhance my mood and focus when I return to my desk again.

When you start to fulfil the goals you have set for yourself then you start to experience fulfilment in that area of your life. You will start to attract people into your life who are on a similar journey and who will appreciate the focus you have towards your goals as they have similar ones towards theirs. Someone who is working towards their goals becomes a very interesting person regardless of the actual goal, be it having an elaborate stamp collection or a becoming a stunt double. Working towards your passions speaks very loudly and is appreciated by the person you are in conversation with as people love to learn about new subjects from a passionate person. There are many people not living according to their passions, as they have accepted what life has given them as opposed to moulding life around their passions. So those who take a risk in life to follow their passions with action and heart, maybe criticised and frowned upon sometimes but in the end they can say that they lived, not just existed.

"When you fully focus your mind, you make others attracted to you."

Toba Beta 

Please leave a comment telling me if you liked this article and if there are any other factors you feel contribute to success from your experience..... I would love to hear from you to be able to enhance myself as well as others who are reading this that are on this same journey. Thanks.

Look On The Bright Side Of Life. I Like Flowers.

Look on the BRIGHT side of life

There will be always new flowers to smell

There will always be a new sky to breathe

There will always be new dream to reach

There will always be new memories to have

There will always be a new person to love

But there will only ever be one you

LOVE yourself